It is odd, but it seems that anyone who is a stay at home parent rarely fits the name. I don’t know many of us who stay at home. It seems we live in our vehicles as we drive from one event to the next. And if a family has more than one kiddo involved in school plus one other activity, it is pretty normal for the parent to spend most of the day in the car.
Now that my daughter is in preschool, I know the above is true for me. And I constantly found myself dashing between events, stressed out trying to make it to places on time.
So, I decided to pray the Rosary in the vehicle. I used to think you had to pray the Rosary in a quiet spot, reserved for prayer, but now, I think the perfect place to pray is the family car. I also used to think you had to pray it all at once in one sitting. Not any more. It is two decades, plus introductory prayers from my house to daughter’s school. From daughter’s school to the grocery store? Two decades.
Initially my plan was just to pray a decade, or so, just to add a little more prayer to our day. But once I realized how easy it was to continue, I thought, “why not pray the whole thing?” And that is how my family began to pray not only the Rosary daily, but also the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as well.
Unexpected consequences since we have started covering our day in prayer while driving around between activities and errands?
1. By day 3 of praying the Rosary, I was surprised to hear a little voice piping in “Holy Mawy, Motha of God, pway for us sinnas, . . . ” Yes, my nearly 4 year old learned the prayers and “how to” within a couple of days. I am now coaching her on leading and I respond. It is going pretty well and it made me think how prayer gives a place for every member of the family. Even though she is little, she can actively pray (she offers up her intentions before a decade). She learns how to lead (by beginning the prayers), and she learns that she is part of something bigger than herself.
2. Praying has calmed down my day. I am a Type A personality,”GO GO GO, let’s get this done NOW, yesterday Folks, yesterday!!!” I didn’t begin to pray to calm down. I just wanted a way to fit in devotionals throughout my day but the consequence has been so soothing, I have to recommend it to you.
3. Part of being calm? My driving is not as aggressive. It hit me yesterday that I wasn’t doing my “normal” driving techniques and it felt good.
4. This is the best part for us. You know how throughout the day you remember people or situations that are in need of prayer? Normally when thinking about it I would just offer a quick prayer. Since including both daily Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, my family has noticed we are praying for many more people and situations in a more focused way.
5. I think long time readers will know I have a minivan. I bought the minivan during my first pregnancy and last year of work for two reasons: we didn’t want to buy a vehicle every time we added a new kid to our family and since we would only live on one income we wanted the vehicle paid off before I quit work. That was 4 years ago. And the Good Lord has provided one living child to us and no more. I felt so funny driving a huge vehicle around with just myself and the kiddo in it. You know God always has different ideas than our own! I realized the other day that most of my driving is for others. I fill my van with whom my dear friend declares “are children, just Children of God.” I either drive refugees around, pick up an elderly Sister for Mass, or run errands for different organizations. As a result, MANY people/strangers pass through my car doors and since we have started to pray, we include them as well. “Hey, have you ever prayed the Divine Mercy before? No? Well, repeat after me!” Thus not only are we covered in prayer, our intentions are covered in prayer, but also the many people who enter our vehicle are covered. And as I dropped off the latest collected donations for Catholic Social Services, I realized that those goods have been in a place blessed with God’s presence. I like to think, just as people were healed merely by being touched by Peter’s shadow, that somehow the prayers will have infused such mundane items as towels and food with something more than the intended purpose!
I know for stay at home parents, becoming a shuttle service is very much a part of the day! Imagine what will happen when we include strangers into our community!
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